1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to processing images and, in particular, to processing images to detect target objects. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for distinguishing between a moving target object and clutter in a video.
2. Background
Target detection is the detection of one or more targets within a scene. The scene may be, for example, without limitation, a region of airspace, a city, a portion of a highway, an area in a field, an area over the ocean, or some other type of scene. A “target,” as used herein, may be any object of interest within that scene. The object may be, for example, without limitation, a vehicle, a person, an aircraft, a missile, a tank, a ship, or some other type of object.
Oftentimes, images of the scene are used to perform target detection. The images used may include, for example, without limitation, electro-optical (EO) images of the scene, infrared (IR) images, radar images, and/or other types of images. Additionally, video of the scene is used for performing target detection. A video may be a sequence of images ordered with respect to time.
The target may appear as a point object in the image. In other words, the target may be a single pixel or only a small number of pixels that make the target unresolvable. In some situations, a target may be a moving target. A “moving target” may be any target that is moving relative to the background of the image. When the target is a moving target, video may be used to both detect the moving target and track the movement of the target over time.
However, detecting moving objects may be more difficult than desired in certain situations. For example, some currently available target detection systems may be unable to detect moving targets in a video when clutter is also present in the video. The clutter may include, for example, noise, artifacts, and/or other types of undesired indications or features in the video that do not represent a moving target or other objects of interest.
Some currently available target detection systems produce a higher rate of false detections than desired. As used herein, a “false detection” is a detection of a target that actually represents clutter instead of the target. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.